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In sports, your teammates are like your siblings. After practicing, playing and spending much of your daily life with them, they just become that close to you. With that being said, who hasn't gotten into a scrap with their brother or sister before? It doesn't matter how big or small the situation may be, these things have a way of escalating very quickly when you get annoyed with each other every now and then.
Life in the NBA, NFL, MLB, soccer or the NHL is no exception. If anything, with how much testosterone and adrenaline pumping through the body of pro athlete, it's no wonder that they aren't at each other's necks more often. As far as we know, anyway. We've heard of stories like Michael Jordan punching Steve Kerr or the unfortunate gun incident between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, but how many practice scuffles on the team plane have been left untold? With that question in mind, take a look at our list, Friendly Fire: A History of Teammates Getting Into Fights With One Another.
Meet the Mets, Beat the Mets
Year: 1989
Team: New York Mets
Players involved: Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez
It's never easy managing the egos of two superstar players. One of the best examples you'll find of this fact is the brawl that took place between Darryl Strawberry and Keith Hernandez during a photo session before the 1989 season. While playing for the Mets at the time, the two had always been catty with one another, but apparently Strawberry could no longer take it.
After the two exchanged words during the session, Strawberry swung at Hernandez and missed before Gary Carter came over to restrain him. Thankfully, their working relationship didn't last too much longer. Hernandez was released from the Mets after the season due to declining performance.
Primeau Pops Probert
Year: 1994
Team: Detroit Red Wings
Players involved: Bob Probert, Keith Primeau
After a practical joke gone wrong, Keith Primeau went off on Bob Probert during a Red Wings practice back in '94. In a game earlier that week against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Primeau felt that he had been robbed of an assist. So, in the middle of practice, Probert had the team's arena workers announce an assist for Primeau over the Joe Louis' PA system. Primeau didn't find it too funny, and the two duked it out, but nothing escalated out of hand. Basically, it was just another day in the life of a hockey player.
Iron Mike
Year: 1995
Team: Chicago Bulls
Players involved: Michael Jordan, Steve Kerr
Michael Jordan was one of the fiercest competitors that any sport has ever seen. However, he was perhaps too overzealous in his treatment of Steve Kerr during Bulls training camp in 1995. Kerr, who recalled the incident last year, said that, "I took exception to something he said. So I was talking back and I don't think Michael appreciated that...and we got in the lane and he gave me a forearm shiver to the chest and I pushed him back." From the sound of it, the scrap was more about earning one another's respect than actually coming to blows. Kudos to Kerr for not backing down to the greatest ever.
Davis Gets Demolished
Year: 1997
Team: Washington Redskins
Players involved: Michael Westbrook, Stephen Davis
Trading a couple punches is one thing, but landing haymakers on your own teammate when he's on the ground is a completely different story. Westbrook was fined $50,000 for an incident that stemmed from Davis chirping at Westbrook a little too loudly. Apparently, Davis had used a homosexual slur against Westbrook, and the former NFL wide receiver was none too pleased. On a related note, Westbrook would later start a career as a mixed martial artist when his football days ended. Coincidence? Definitely not.
Stack Fights Back
Year: 1999
Team: Detroit Pistons
Players involved: Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner
In 1999, a report came out claiming that Jerry Stackhouse and Christian Laettner—both on the Detroit Pistons at the time—had gotten into a brawl on the team plane. It was the result of a card game that had become too heated. At the time, a team spokesman said that the report was fabricated, but years later, Stackhouse recalled giving Laettner a black eye when they were teammates, and mentioned the card game and the plane. For what it's worth, Stackhouse added that fighting was just a natural part of the relationship that the two shared. Aww?
No Love From the Glove
Year: 2000
Team: Seattle SuperSonics
Players involved: Gary Payton, Vernon Maxwell
If you're going to fight a teammate, always keep it hand-to-hand. For example, don't do as Gary Payton and Vernon Maxwell did when they were teammates in Seattle during the 1999-2000 season. After exchanging some words during practice, Maxwell and Payton eventually started going at it in the locker. Their feud reportedly escalated so quickly that the Glove grabbed a chair and Maxwell went looking for a free weight to use. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, but not without the help of Horace Grant and Chuck Person, who ended up injuring themselves trying to break up the fight.
'Sheed Lays the Smack Down
Year: 2001
Team: Portland Trail Blazers
Players involved: Rasheed Wallace, Arvydas Sabonis
A towel to the face isn't as bad as many of the other incidents you'll see in sports, but it's one of the best highlights you'll get of 'Sheed being 'Sheed. In the heat of the battle during a game between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers, Sabonis was attempting to draw a foul on Shaquille O'Neal. However, he accidentally smacked his teammate, Rasheed Wallace, in the face. Rasheed, of course, was none too pleased, and retaliated during the next timeout by snapping his towel in Sabonis' face.
Bill Walton, who remembered the incident in an article for Grantland, said that, "If I was any kind of a man, I would have got up from that broadcast table and walked across the court and punched Rasheed Wallace in the nose. But I let Sabonis and the game of basketball and the human race down that day." Uhhh...Bill, let's take it easy, okay? It was bad, but not that bad.
Clash of the Giants
Year: 2002
Team: San Francisco Giants
Players involved: Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent
Barry Bonds was always known as being a temperamental, grouchy player, but former Giants second baseman Jeff Kent was no walk in the park either. While the two were teammates in San Francisco, their personalities eventually became too much for either one of them to handle. The tensions culminated in an ugly dugout battle during a game against the San Diego Padres in 2002.
Down 5-0 to San Diego, the Giants weren't performing up to expectations that day, and the disappointment eventually boiled over. Both Bonds and Kent brushed their scuffle off, with the former refusing to comment, and the latter saying that it was, "no big deal." Kent also mentioned that this was merely one incident of the "half-dozen times we've done it before." How's that for team chemistry?
Zach Attack
Year: 2003
Team: Portland Trail Blazers
Players involved: Zach Randolph, Ruben Patterson
The Jail Blazers are one of the most infamous teams in NBA history, and standing at the center of that mess were guys like Zach Randolph and Ruben Patterson. Honestly, until his emergence with the Memphis Grizzlies, Randolph was always something of a headcase, and the fight he started with Patterson is evidence of that. After stepping in on a fight between Qyntel Woods and Patterson during practice, Randolph ended up popping Patterson in the face, an offense for which he was fined $100,000. He was also suspended for two games. Great job keeping the peace there, Zach.
Romo's "Roid Rage"
Year: 2003
Team: Oakland Raiders
Players involved: Bill Romanowski, Marcus Williams
Steroids are an unfortunate reality of modern sports, but that doesn't make them a good thing, especially when they're abused. During his days with the Oakland Raiders, former linebacker Bill Romanowski showed the unfortunate consequences of steroid use, when he viciously attacked teammate Marcus Williams during practice. That was the angle of Williams' legal team anyway, who referred to Romo's attack as an incident of "'roid rage," while they attempted to prosecute the All-Pro linebacker.
Romo's attack on Williams was so brutal that it finished Williams' career, as Romanowski had crushed Williams' eye socket. The judge would end up striking down the legal team's allegations of steroids use, but Williams was awarded $340,000 (though he had initially sued for $3.4M). A crushed eye socket and an ended career seems worth more than that, but good luck stating your case to Romo.
Pay the Man
Year: 2005
Team: New York Knicks
Players involved: Nate Robinson, Malik Rose
If you're a gambling man, then you should know that it's never okay to back out on a bet after you've lost. It's just poor sportmanship, and more importantly, you could stand to be putting yourself in danger if you refuse to pay up. Just ask Malik Rose, who placed a bet with Nate Robinson when the two were playing with the Knicks in 2005.
After betting on the Philadelphia Eagles to beat the Seattle Seahawks during a Monday Night battle (Philly would lose 42-0), Rose owed Robinson cash that he wasn't willing to give up. So Robinson retaliated by jumping Rose in the shower. Nothing came of the fight but some bad publicity. But hey, we're talking about the Knicks right now, so this incident was really just a blip on the radar.
A Kicker's Life
Year: 2005
Team: Toronto Argonauts
Players involved: Robert Baker, Noel Prefontaine
Kickers are never allowed to get in a fight. It's just a fact that they're going to end up looking bad. For unclear reasons, Argos kicker Noel Prefontaine tried to grab receiver Robert Baker as he was getting off the field. Fired up from the game (and possibly from being spat on by an opposing player), Baker reacted harshly to the grab, and pushed Prefontaine away, knocking him back with a punch to the jaw. Prefontaine tried to fight back, but was held away from Baker by other teammates. Eventually, Baker was suspended one game for his actions.
Newcastle Divided
Year: 2005
Team: Newcastle United FC
Players involved: Lee Bowyer, Kieron Dyer
When your team is down 3-0, the last thing you want to see is your own guys picking fights with one another. However, in a Newcastle match against Aston Villa, this is exactly what happened as Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer started trading blows toward the end of the match. Reportedly, after the two began sharing some words, Bowyer moved in to sock Dyer, and things only got uglier from there. Newcastle was already down a man and after Dyer and Bowyer's antics, they were only left with eight.
Along with the red card, Bowyer—who was later judged to be the aggressor—was given a six-game ban and a £30,000 fine along with the docking of six weeks worth of wages. Dyer received just a three-game ban. When you're losing, it's easy to get testy with your teammates, and that's what happened here.
Sibling Rivalry
Year: 2006
Team: Chicago Blackhawks
Players involved: Matt Barnaby, Marty Lapointe
Hockey players are some of the most durable teammates around, linked by a fierce brotherhood in the purest sense of the word. And, well, you know how angry you can get at your own siblings sometimes? That's basically what happened between Matt Barnaby and Marty Lapointe in a Chicago Blackhawks practice back in 2006. It was a classic practice scuffle. The type that comes when testosterone and adrenaline are too high. Both of the players simply shook it off after the fact.
Slugout in the Dugout
Year: 2007
Team: Chicago Cubs
Players involved: Carlos Zambrano, Michael Barrett
If you played for the Chicago Cubs, chances are good that you were going to be in a pretty bad mood most of the time. The team hasn't won in years, and former pitcher Carlos Zambrano had probably been around for too many of those seasons to enjoy himself anymore. In 2007, as the team was losing to Atlanta, Zambrano and his catcher Michael Barrett ended up trading blows that would send Barrett to the hospital for six stitches. The two were also fined an undisclosed amount by the team.
Apparently, Zambrano had instigated the fight, but it was Barrett's poor catching performance that made him so angry. In the fifth inning of the game, a passed ball and a throwing error by Barrett allowed the Braves to tack on another run, and Zambrano wasn't happy about it. However, the two would make their peace after the incident, and nothing further came of it.
Animal Instinct
Year: 2008
Team: Carolina Panthers
Players involved: Steve Smith, Ken Lucas
Steve Smith has always been a scrappy type. An athlete who probably has a Napoleon complex of sorts. But he let his temper get out of hand when he decked Ken Lucas in the eye during a Panthers practice back in August of 2008. Lucas' nose was also broken, and as a result, the Panthers had to suspend Smith for two games. Smith's reputation as a hothead hasn't lessened since, but at least he's avoided picking off any of his teammates.
Guns Out
Year: 2009
Team: Washington Wizards
Players involved: Javaris Crittenton, Gilbert Arenas
Out of any fight between teammates, this incident is the most infamous. Details as to what truly went down are still sketchy, but it is known that an argument took place between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton on the team plane on Dec. 20, 2009, reportedly stemming from a game of cards between JaVale McGee and Crittenton. Apparently, McGee wasn't paying up, and Arenas had tried to step in as a peacemaker, but to what end remains unclear. Various witnesses said that Arenas threatened to shoot Crittenton, who retaliated by doing the same thing.
On Dec. 21, Arenas tried to back up his talk by laying out of all his guns in front of Crittenton's locker. Crittenton responded by pulling out his own firearm. From there, things got ugly, as the media got involved and action had to be taken by the league and legal authorities. Arenas was eventually charged with a felony for carrying an unlicensed pistol outside a home or business. He received two years probation and 30 days in a halfway house for the crime. Crittenton was only given a misdemeanor gun possession charge and a year of probation, but both athletes were suspended for the remainder of the season by Stern.
Their Bites Are Worse Than Their Barks
Year: 2010
Team: Mississippi State Bulldogs
Players involved: Renardo Sidney, Elgin Bailey
Fresh off a suspension during his sophomore season, Mississippi State Bulldogs forward Renardo Sidney didn't even make it back for a game. Instead, he got in a fight with the team captain, Elgin Bailey. The two ended up getting suspended for a month before getting reinstated. It was a pretty incredible move on Sidney's part, considering that he had been suspended for all of his freshman season as well. But apparently Bailey had been the one to instigate the fight. Renardo would end up transferring before playing for the Bulldogs again.
Raging Bulls
Year: 2010
Team: Houston Texans
Players involved: Brian Cushing, Antonio Smith
Getting in a fight during practice or off-the-field is one thing, but trading blows in the middle of a game is inexcusable. That's exactly what happened between teammates Antonio Smith and Brian Cushing of the Houston Texans during a 2010 matchup versus the Tennessee Titans. It wasn't seen during the actual play, however, replays showed the two going at one another as the last seconds of the first half were ticking down. Cushing's helmet was ripped off by Smith but, other than that, nothing else came of the fight. The two are still teammates today.
Turbulence at 10,000 Feet
Year: 2011
Team: Memphis Grizzlies
Players involved: O.J. Mayo, Tony Allen
Gambling among teammates is the stuff of legends in the NBA, and the scuffle that erupted between O.J. Mayo and Tony Allen is no exception. Following a high stakes game of Bourre on the team plane which resulted in $7,500 owed to Allen, the two ended up fighting. Reportedly, Mayo wasn't willing to pay up and then started insulting Allen in a variety of ways before Tony finally had enough. He clocked Mayo a couple times in the face, and O.J.—whose own punch ended up missing Allen—was once again on the losing side of their battle.